Shear Cell Modules for Powder Rheometer by Freeman Technology

The three sizes of Freeman Technology Shear Cell modules for the FT4 Powder Rheometer allow the shear properties of powders to be measured. Using a shear cell on the high-specification FT4 platform allows the automatic generation of accurate and reproducible shear information which complements the dynamic flow date.

Freeman shear cells

The FT4’s high-specification hardware platform combined with the precise control and extensive analysis capabilities of its software, have allowed the design of a highly sensitive, reproducible and fully automated shear measurement system. Shear strength in both consolidated and unconsolidated samples can be measured.

The Freeman shear cells offer:

Fast, automated operation

Independence from the operator

High reproducibility

Sample conditioning before test

Three sizes of shear cells - 85ml, 10ml and 1ml sample size

Testing of unconsolidated powder

Small sample volume - down to 1ml

Sophisticated data analysis

Comprehensive data plotting and formatting

Force control and position control modes available

Precision measurement of axial and rotational position

Hopper design methodology and software

Fully automated testing

The Freeman shear cell accessory is delivered with a library of testing programs. To perform a test the user simply selects the required program, loads and prepares the sample and then clicks 'run'.

The following stages are fully automated:

The standard Freeman conditioning cycle prepares the sample for testing

In a 'pre-shear' stage, the powder bed is sheared in order to maximise the major principal stress

For powder characterisation, a single series of tests at a particular pre-consolidation stress may be sufficient. For example, a powder may be pre-consolidated to 9kPa and then sheared at 7, 6, 5,4 and 3kPa with pre-consolidation to 9kPa between each test

More comprehensive, multi-stage testing to produce a range of yield loci corresponding to different pre-consolidation stress levels. Usually a given sample will be suitable for repeated shear testing to obtain the required set of yield loci. In this case the entire evaluation is automated.